Learning programming

[Crazyfruitbat]

Hi guys, I'm looking for some advice. I want to learn programming but I have no idea where to start. I did my a-level in computer programming, but it was 10 years ago and I feel that Pascal (which I used at the time) isn't exactly helpful right now.

Since I'm a british guy living in Japan, the choice of courses are limited in English for me (the thought of learning this in japanese would kill me) so I feel a bit stuck knowing where to start.

Ideally I'd like to make websites and iphone apps as it's what keep my interest the most - I have always wanted to know how websites like xenforo work (an obviously complicated example). I got some books about iphone development but even those need some programming knowledge to even think of doing anything more complicated than making a welcome screen or a 'phone me' app.

Any ideas of where I could start?

 

[Dean]

I have been learning massive amounts of information from the Apple store people - one-on-one program which allows a lot of training, and access to the Genius type people before the Apple store opens every morning. $99/year available when a mac is purchased from apple.

Also:
http://www.lynda.com/Apple-training-tutorials/106-0.html

 

[Slavik]

http://devzone.zend.com/article/627

 

[Crazyfruitbat]

Thanks guys, that a great help!

 

[IanC]

If you're looking to start programming, take a look at some online PHP tutorials. It's easy to get started with the basics and you can learn it all online for free . Once you've been doing it for a few weeks you'll be able to do lots of extra stuff with XenForo that wouldn't have been possible otherwise .

 

[bambua]

Actually pascal structure wise isn't a bad start to learning PHP. I took that before C back in college and it helped me be a lot more strict with how I set up what can be if you let it a very sloppy language.

 

[Hillbilly]

I suggest setting up a local test server (you can use something like http://www.wampserver.com/en/) if you're interested in developing websites or full blown "web apps" like xenforo. Just get in there and start hacking away at the files, reading them, learning how they work, trying out slight modifications, learning to fix what you break.

"Programming" is such a broad field....for example there is a HUGE difference between learning C and learning php. Also, programming is one of those things where once you pick up on one language it is easy to move on to another. I actually got my start with perl in the 90s and moved on from there. I'm far from an expert in anything really....but I do get my hands dirty when the need arises.

Also, if you're working on the web learning javascript/xhtml/css is going to be a must in this day and age of "dynamic" websites.

If I were you, I'd just stick with learning one thing for now. Head over to php.net, read the docs, and start playing around by making simple "hello world" scripts and using the basic functions. Once you learn that, you can move into talking to mySQL via SQL inside of php. Eventually, you'll be able to get your head around OOP style programming in php.

It's kinda like learning how to drive a car with a manual transmission man. Its not something that can be taught imo, you have to just get a feel for it and keep improving. I've been doing this stuff for over 10 years and I'm still learning.

Also, try to focus on one thing at a time. It is easy to get overwhelmed by everything if you try to learn it all at the same time.

In addition to Dean's suggestion, you might want to check at your local community college to see if they offer any programming courses. Those can be very helpful for learning the basics. At my local community college you can take a classes like that at night. I took a few a couple of years back and they were very helpful to me. As before then all I had done was php/perl and mostly web based stuff. In those classes I got a taste of C/C#/C++ and I don't think I would have been able to pick up on C/C++ without them as easily as I did.

Right now I'm kinda in the same boat as you actually. I'm very interested in making a few android/iphone apps, but I'm going to have to learn some new tools before I can start doing anything useful. Thankfully I have a nice rooted android phone that should serve as a nice test bed for my hacky code.

Oh, and programming can be frustrating as all hell. I think everyone goes through those times where something that should work simply doesn't for some stupid reason like a simple typo. Sometimes you gotta take a break, come back, and solve the problem when you have a fresh mind.

Just work at it, you sound like you're someone who can pick up on things with ease. So you should have no issues. Just stick to learning one thing at a time and you'll do fine.

 

[Crazyfruitbat]

Actually pascal structure wise isn't a bad start to learning PHP. I took that before C back in college and it helped me be a lot more strict with how I set up what can be if you let it a very sloppy language.

I'm starting to realise that actually - I was pleasantly surprised.

I suggest setting up a local test server (you can use something like http://www.wampserver.com/en/) if you're interested in developing websites or full blown "web apps" like xenforo. Just get in there and start hacking away at the files, reading them, learning how they work, trying out slight modifications, learning to fix what you break.

"Programming" is such a broad field....for example there is a HUGE difference between learning C and learning php. Also, programming is one of those things where once you pick up on one language it is easy to move on to another. I actually got my start with perl in the 90s and moved on from there. I'm far from an expert in anything really....but I do get my hands dirty when the need arises.

Also, if you're working on the web learning javascript/xhtml/css is going to be a must in this day and age of "dynamic" websites.

If I were you, I'd just stick with learning one thing for now. Head over to php.net, read the docs, and start playing around by making simple "hello world" scripts and using the basic functions. Once you learn that, you can move into talking to mySQL via SQL inside of php. Eventually, you'll be able to get your head around OOP style programming in php.

It's kinda like learning how to drive a car with a manual transmission man. Its not something that can be taught imo, you have to just get a feel for it and keep improving. I've been doing this stuff for over 10 years and I'm still learning.

Also, try to focus on one thing at a time. It is easy to get overwhelmed by everything if you try to learn it all at the same time.

In addition to Dean's suggestion, you might want to check at your local community college to see if they offer any programming courses. Those can be very helpful for learning the basics. At my local community college you can take a classes like that at night. I took a few a couple of years back and they were very helpful to me. As before then all I had done was php/perl and mostly web based stuff. In those classes I got a taste of C/C#/C++ and I don't think I would have been able to pick up on C/C++ without them as easily as I did.

Right now I'm kinda in the same boat as you actually. I'm very interested in making a few android/iphone apps, but I'm going to have to learn some new tools before I can start doing anything useful. Thankfully I have a nice rooted android phone that should serve as a nice test bed for my hacky code.

Oh, and programming can be frustrating as all hell. I think everyone goes through those times where something that should work simply doesn't for some stupid reason like a simple typo. Sometimes you gotta take a break, come back, and solve the problem when you have a fresh mind.

Just work at it, you sound like you're someone who can pick up on things with ease. So you should have no issues. Just stick to learning one thing at a time and you'll do fine.

That's an awesome reply - thanks for spending the time to write it. I have started going over the tutorials Slavik has suggested and I'm enjoying them - so far, so good. I have my own Apache server built on Linode (I knew nothing about running servers until I threw myself in a few months back) so I can do a lot of testing on some of the spare space that I have.

I also downloaded the apple SDK last week, not to really program it, but to see how things work and what comes with it etc.

I'm actually quite excited to learn all of this stuff, but certainly PHP is my first port of call and I'll move over to other things after that.